Lost peacock struts way home

Lost peacock struts way home

Edward the peacock managed to escape his new home in February and toured the Lake Mykee area for more than a month.

A peacock named Edward, feeling blue, strutted home last Thursday after an early February disappearance.

According to reports from the Lake Mykee area, exploits from his 38-day countryside adventure included sitting on cars, crossing highways and visiting some nearby peafowls.

Edward — a birthday gift to Michalah Berhorst from her husband — had just started living at his new home in Lake Mykee before going missing. Berhorst originally asked for a new car, but Edward's previous owner could no longer care for him and would have had to put him down, so her husband decided to bring the camouflage-tailed peacock home instead.

"I would have preferred a new car," Berhorst said with a laugh. "But Edward is sweet. He's very timid."

Berhorst planned to keep Edward in the coop where her family raises chickens near their house. She said peacocks have similar needs to chickens, only needing warmer temperatures. Somehow, Edward found a way out and flew the coop on Feb. 5, Berhorst's birthday, less than 24 hours after she got him.

From there the blue, green and purple bird would wander, occasionally being seen by Berhorst's neighbors and coworkers, before finding his way back.

Berhorst used community Facebook groups to try to track down Edward, hearing of multiple sightings of the bird throughout the area. She said she spotted him last Wednesday night near a road while driving home. Berhorst circled back, but Edward was nowhere to be found. Reaching out to social media again the next day, she received reports of the elusive peacock in the area around her home before being reunited.